The present invention relates generally to an improved printer and its components. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an improved printer that comprises a plurality of components that provide a user with a simple, intuitive user-friendly touchscreen interface, is easy to assemble, and has a low cost to repair.
A barcode printer is a computer peripheral for printing barcode labels or tags that can be attached to, or printed directly on, physical objects. Barcode printers are commonly used to label cartons before shipment, or to label retail items with UPCs or EANs. The most common barcode printers employ one of two different printing technologies. Direct thermal printers use a print head to generate heat that causes a chemical reaction in specially designed paper that turns the paper black. Thermal transfer printers also use heat, but instead of the paper reacting, the heat melts a waxy or resinous substance on a ribbon that runs over the label or tag material. The heat transfers ink (the melted material) from the ribbon to the paper.
Barcode printers are designed for specific market segments. Industrial barcode printers are used in large warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and food facilities. They have large paper capacities, operate faster and have a longer service life. However, installation and configuration of industrial barcode printers can be difficult and non-customizable. For retail and office environments, desktop barcode printers are most common. These desktop barcode printers can also be difficult to install and configure to which a touch screen user interface could make the user configuration simpler.
Furthermore, thermal barcode printers have parts that comprise the print mechanism of the device, including gears, print head, platen roller, clips, bearings, etc. Some of these components, such as the platen roller, come in direct contact with the paper and are subject to wear and tear over the life of the component. Further, accessing and changing these parts can be difficult requiring downtime of the equipment. For example, changing a print head requires insertion of a 25 pin ribbon cable which can be difficult and cumbersome to users. Thus, there exists a need for a method of changing a platen roller quickly and with no special tools, as well as a need for a method of mechanically guiding the print head into the carrier to make the electrical connection eliminating the need for the user to fumble with a cable.
Additionally, barcode printers accommodate different sizes of supplies, and are able to accept only one type of core. Thus, there exists a need for a universal supply holder to accommodate different sizes of inner diameter cores for tag and laminated supplies, as well as a method of allowing a user to easily change from cardboard to plastic cores for the ink supply on the same printer. Print quality when using thermal transfer supplies depends on the ribbon drive control of the ribbon spool in both the forward and reverse directions.
Further, barcode printers comprise multiple sensors for aligning and printing labels, as well as other various printer supply operations, including informing a user when the printer is out of stock. Thus, there exists a need for a sensor that minimizes the user setup needed for printing on a continuous roll of labels, and a sensor for providing a low supply indicator to give adequate time to prepare for the out of stock condition to minimize downtime for the printer.